Are you frustrated with morning work, bell ringers, and literacy station resources for upper grades? Do you struggle with finding material that has rigor and yet can be worked on independently? This April National Days unit was created to meet this need for upper grades. It was designed to not just be a filler with low level tasks, but instead was created with rigor and daily writing practice that will increase stamina with your students and take them to a higher level of thinking.

The daily worksheet requires the students to use the text to support their reading and writing. Evidence from the text is required from each passage that will serve as great test preparation and practice by teaching students over and over again each day to base their answers on what the text has stated.

Each April National Day Unit includes:
- 1 of 30 Passage for month of April
- 3 true/false type questions on anticipation guide
- Close read with annotating and coding
- Writing on Demand using CCSS Writing Standard based prompts
- Writing that requires passage based responses
- Narrative writing, Expository writing, Opinion Writing

April's National Days:

1. National April Fool’s Day
2. National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
3. National Find a Rainbow Day
4. National School Librarian Day
5. National Read a Road Map Day
6. National Sorry Charlie Day
7. National No Housework Day
8. National Zoo Lovers Day
9. National Cherish an Antique Day
10. National Siblings Day
11. National Barbershop Quartet Day
12. National Licorice Day
13. National Scrabble Day
14. National Dolphin Day
15. National Titanic Remembrance Day
16. National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day
17. National Bat Appreciation Day
18. National Animal Crackers Day
19. National Hanging Out Day
20. National Look Alike Day
21. National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day
22. National Earth Day
23. National Picnic Day
24. National Pigs In a Blanket Day
25. National DNA Day
26. National Richter Scale Day
27. National Babe Ruth Day
28. National Blueberry Pie Day
29. National Zipper Day
30. National Bugs Bunny Day

We hope this reading and writing unit will meet your need for morning work and literacy station work. This unit could easily be used in the Daily Five format and help to add rigor for:
• Read to self
• Read with a partner
• Write to self